The Starwave 70 EDT-R refractor has a triplet ED lens system with premium Japanese Ohara SFPL-53 ED glass element. Super-high transmission coating (STM Coating) is used on all air-to-glass surfaces for high contrast.

The tube is made from light weight aluminium alloy with CNC machined components. A tough matte pearl powder coated tube and hard-anodised fittings give durability and great looks.

The Starwave 70EDT-R can be used for both visual observing and astro-photography at F4.8 with the optional 0.8x Planostar V2 focal reducer.

Visual observing with the Starwave 70ED-R: Detail is easily visible on the larger planets such as Jupiter, with both the four principle moons and main cloud belts easily visible at high power. Saturn's rings and thousands of lunar craters, as well as volcanic plains and mountain ranges are all easily visible. Add a high quality Kendrick solar filter or Daystar Quark Hydrogen Alpha solar eyepiece and you have the perfect 70mm solar observing system. The 420mm focal length is ideal for the Daystar Quark, allowing you to capture the entire disc of the sun at low power, enabling viewing of solar prominences and their development over a few hours. The 70 EDT-R will easliy reveal detail and structure within sunspots with white light solar filters. Viewing bright extended deepsky objects or star-clouds with a low power eyepiece is very rewarding too, with the inherent contrast of a high quality refractor giving objects that visual "pop" against a dark background - something not possible with reflecting telescopes.

Ergonomics: The light weight dual speed 2" Rack and Pinion Geared focuser gives a good balance between lifting power and stability for large eyepieces or cameras. Fine tilt-adustments can be made using the focuser, so you can adjust the optical tube to produce very round stars at this fast F6 focal ratio. The focuser has a 2" rear accessory port with a zero-flex 3 thumbscrew compression ring and a 2"-1.25" adapter with compression ring and dust plug.

Finder scopes: The optional Starwave 50mm or 60mm RACI (Right angle Correct Image) finder-scope or the Starwave RDF (Red Dot Finder) both have a quick release bracket which fits the focuser and is left on, so you can keep it aligned for quick setup. What's more you can use the Starwave 50mm Guide Scope for long exposures imaging with an equatorial mount.

Grab 'n go portability: The Starwave 70 EDT-R is a great "grab 'n go" portable telescope-kit for visual observing or astro-photography. The telescope is about the same size as a telephoto camera lens, so it will easily fit in your camera bag.

Photography with the Planostar v2 0.8x Reducer Flattener:CCD cameras: The backfocus distance from the flattener flat shoulder is 65.82mm (see diagram) excluding threads. The rear thread is T-Thread male or M42x0.75 so you will need appropriate spacers.DSLR cameras: You can order the Planostar v2 Reducer Flattener with DSLR adapter and spacer for either Nikon F-mount (46.5mm spacing), or Canon EOS-mount (44mm spacing). These are pre-set to give the correct spacing for your DSLR. A filter can be screwed into the front of the reducer.

Mounting the Starwave 70 EDT-R on a camera tripod: Attaching the telescope to a photo or video tripod mount takes seconds by means of the 1/4" photo thread on the dovetail-base. A photo-tripod is perfect for grab and go visual astronomy, digi-scoping and use as a terrestrial spotting scope with superior astro-eyepieces. Astro telescopes usually have higher quality optics than spotting scopes, however they display a reversed, upside down image, which is perfectly acceptable for night-time viewing but not for daytime use. To use your 70 EDT-R as a spotting scope, simply plug in the Altair Lightwave 45 degree erect image prism diagonal and add an eyepiece. which produces an upright, correctly orientated image. Needless to say there are few if any spotting scopes which compare to a triplet refractor with FPL-53 ED glass element when it comes to colour correction and sharpness at high powers.

Mounting the Starwave 70 EDT-R to an astro-mount: Most GOTO mounts which support "Vixen/Synta-format " dovetails such as the iOptron SkyGuider, Skytracker, Cube PRO, Minitower range, SmartEQ PRO, Skywatcher EQ5, and so-on will fit directly. The mounting base can be detached and re-mounted facing backwards to change the balance point for smaller loads. A "Vixen-format" or "Losmandy-format" dovetail bar can be used to attach this telescope to any mount. Many choices are available within the Altair TMS Telescope Mounting System or Starwave Mounting System. Product codes: VDB-CL-180 or SW-MINI-VBAR-200 are probably the best choices. They are attached by means of the standard photo tripod threads in the mounting base. Longer dovetail bars, for example the Altair TMS 250mm Dovetail Bar (code: VDB-250) can be used to gain more length for balancing with heavier accessories, such as cameras and filter wheels. Visual observers might choose longer dovetail bars for balancing with bino-viewers or heavy eyepieces. The mounting base can also be completely detached, allowing the Starwave 70 EDT-R optical tube to fit guide scope rings, such as the Altair TMS Lightweight Rings (code: GSR-100), or the Starwave 110mm guide scope rings (Code: SWGSR-110). Both systems have many options for mounting piggyback, or side-by-side.

*Staff comments: Chromatic aberration (or false colour) is completely suppressed in the in-focus and out-of-focus image, therefore we can describe this lens system as "APO" or Apochromatic.

Why should I buy choose the 70mm Starwave refractor? For those wanting a very portable telescope, capable of visual astronomy at night, terrestrial spotting during the daytime, plus wide field astro-photography, this travel refractor is ideal. It will fit the iOptron SkyGuider with a DSLR, and remain well within specified weight limits. It can be used with the iOptron Skytracker provided you have a light weight DSLR or CCD camera.

What's the ultimate travel setup with this scope? For visual use, as a spotting scope, a Starwave 70 EDT-R, and a decent quality video or photo tripod would be more than sufficient for general visual astronomy and astro-imaging. When you're ready for an ultra-portable GOTO mount for solar and general astro-observing consider upgrading to the iOptron Cube PRO GOTO mount. A Starwave RDF finder, a Lightwave 45 degree erecting prism, a Altair Astro dielectric diagonal, and a couple of Lightwave eyepieces or, if space is at a premium, even just one Lightwave Zoom Eyepiece will perform admirably. The 70mm is a good basis for a portable visual observing, or an astro-photography system.

What's the recommended GOTO mount for portable visual observing and/or imaging? If you're a visual observer, or enjoy solar viewing, then the ideal GOTO mount for the Starwave 70 EDT-R is the iOptron Cube PRO with metal worm gear and GPS, which you really can take anywhere. If you want to enjoy imaging and visual observing, then the iOptron Smart-EQ PRO add an equatorial tracking feature (for long exposures free from star-trailing) and autoguiding (for even longer exposures). If you're an astro-imaging purist, then the iOptron SkyGuider would be the logical choice, offering a very stable tripod, with smoothest tracking, an autoguiding option with Altair GPCAM Micro-Guider, and the best tracking performance overall.

How do I piggyback the Starwave 70EDT-R on my existing scope? Many owners of larger scopes want to use their Starwave EDT-R for autoguiding solar-observing, or taking wide-field images whilst imaging with their main scope. It can even be used as a "super-finder" with a low power eyepiece for colour aberration-free views of the sky at low powers. You can mount your 70mm EDT-R in guidescope rings using the Starwave inverted Losmandy-compatible or Vixen-compatible clamps with 110mm Guide Scope Rings, depending on the type of mounting system used on top of your main scope. Contact us for advice.

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So happy shopping and if you have any questions about the scheme or any other queries, please get in touch.

Rother Valley Optics

01909774369sales@rothervalleyoptics.co.uk

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